“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23

Last month I made the decision to skip making a New Year’s Resolution and instead focus on walking in the Spirit. I began studying Galatians 5 and discovered that Paul wrote about walking in the flesh versus walking in the Spirit; first in 5:1 it tells us, “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” and verse 16 says, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” Gratifying the desires of my flesh seems a whole lot easier than trying to deny it! The reason for this is that they are things of our nature, so they come naturally to us. 

Studying this part of Scripture, I discovered that walking by the Spirit and not the flesh is basically what a New Year’s Resolution means…giving up anything that fulfills the lust of the flesh and being resolute in doing what keeps me walking in God’s Spirit. Giving up food or drink, adding in exercise or outdoor activity, making and keeping goals, treating others better. In a nutshell all that I really need to be resolute or determined in walking with the Spirit can be found by actually taking hold of the fruit that He has already given me. What can be easier than that? 

Walking by the Spirit means that I simply allow Him to do His work within me. I don’t have to strive more or try to practice better self-discipline or will-power….I trust in His power in my life to battle those things of the flesh that tend to trip me up. It’s not a matter of trying harder or being more dedicated to better, healthier lifestyle choices. I’ve found that those fade over time. The end of December or first of January finds me determined to make wiser, healthier habits and to stop destructive ones; but by the end of February my determination weakens and I go right back to bad habits and destructive choices. 

I wanted something different this year. Through reading about the fruit of the Spirit, I found that the key is simply a matter of plugging into the power and taking hold of that which I already possess. I’ve already been given those Godly attitudes that characterize those who belong to God, those virtues listed in Galatians 5:22.

Before talking about those attributes that make up the fruit of the Spirit, Paul first talks about the “works of the flesh” in verses 19-21. The list includes:

• adultery
• fornication
• uncleanness
• lewdness
• idolatry
• sorcery
• hatred
• contentions
• jealousies
• outbursts of wrath
• selfish ambition
• dissensions
• heresies
• envy
• murders
• drunkenness
• revelries 
• “AND THE LIKE”…which means that this list is not exhaustive! 

The works of the flesh are many, and they work independently of one another. You might struggle with envy but not with murder, or with drunkenness, but not with sorcery. The works of my flesh battle against the Spirit in my life; it’s an invisible battle inside of me, but the effects are almost always outwardly evident. We might not visibly see those things of the flesh, but we can sure witness what they do! You might not see the envy that I have towards my best friend, but you can tell when that friendship is destroyed because of it. You might not see the selfish way that I put myself first, but you will notice when my family begins to fall apart because of it.

Not only are these works of the flesh destructive while we’re here on earth, but the bible is very clear about the ultimate consequence: those who practice these things will not inherit the kingdom of God. There’s a lot at stake here…it’s about more than just making healthy lifestyle changes. It’s about allowing God to remold our old nature and convert our sinful hearts so that we can grab hold of our inheritance. It’s about the promise of heaven or the consequence of hell. 

As Believers, it’s not that we never commit any of these works of the flesh, because we have sinned, we do sin, and we will still sin….it’s that we feel the conviction of sin and realize what those works of the flesh lead to. We don’t stay there in the mess that the working of our flesh creates; we listen to and don’t ignore the voice of the Holy Spirit telling us to stop the flesh work. It’s a matter of recognizing that the works of the flesh are keeping us dead and in bondage.

What we do is grab hold of the things of the Spirit. We accept the fruit He offers us so we can begin bearing fruit ourselves.

Because God is good enough and big enough to overcome the works of the flesh with the in-working of His Holy Spirit in our lives. I have learned this precious truth in my own life: the fruit of the Spirit will ALWAYS overcome the works of the flesh! This fruit is the result of the working of the Spirit in our own human hearts and nature. 

One of the interesting things that I discovered in studying Galatians 5 is that this fruit of the Spirit is singular and not plural like the “works” of the flesh. It’s “fruit”, not fruits; think in terms of a bunch of grapes and not a bowl of various fruits. The Spirit doesn’t have to do a wide variety of work in our lives, He just has to do the one work; He only has to produce the one fruit in the hearts of Believers. But that one fruit consists of 9 different characteristics or attributes that are all linked together, working in perfect unity:

• LOVE
• JOY
• PEACE
• LONG SUFFERING/PATIENCE
• KINDNESS
• GOODNESS
• FAITHFULNESS
• GENTLENESS
• SELF-CONTROL

This fruit isn’t spread out amongst the Body of Believers like the gifts of the Spirit (i.e. teaching, encouraging, hospitality discernment, etc.), where one member of the Body receives only certain gifts but not necessarily all of them. The fruit of the Spirit is given to all Believers in the moment of their conversion; one member doesn’t receive just the fruit of love while another receives only patience…the Spirit doesn’t say, “Here you have an apple, and you over there take an orange.” We are all given the entire cluster of the same fruit that the Spirit works in all of our lives. These attributes don’t flow from our own nature as the works of the flesh do, they aren’t of the flesh but are of the Spirit and are the natural result of the Spirit’s influence in our minds, hearts, and souls.

Every Christian already possesses this fruit; we don’t have to strive or scheme in order to receive it. We don’t need to prove ourselves worthy enough to earn it, and we don’t lose it if we aren’t living up to certain expectations. At the moment of our salvation and rebirth the Spirit gives us this fruit, but it’s a matter of whether we choose to partake of it or ignore it. Anyone can hand me a bunch of grapes, but it’s up to me whether I eat them or not! The Spirit is not going to force feed His fruit to me. Satan loves to keep us distracted with the works of the flesh; he likes to deceive us into thinking that those fleshly things that feel good are good for us. Satan does not want us to recognize that the fruit already belongs to us; he doesn’t want us to utilize those godly attributes and attitudes that should characterize the lives of those who belong to God by faith in Christ. Satan wants to keep us from the truth that those whom God calls His own possess His Spirit, and those who possess His Spirit also possess His fruit!

The fruit of the Spirit has many important characteristics to consider:

• We don’t produce it, the Spirit does, we don’t work to achieve it, we simply abide and dwell in the Spirit and He produces the fruit in our lives. This fruit is ours for the taking, we don’t have to earn it or strive for it in order to receive it, we just have to accept it and begin partaking of it.
• Fruit goes bad quickly if it isn’t consumed immediately. If it sits on the counter or in the fridge for too long then it becomes useless, stale and rotten. Just like any other spiritual discipline, “eating” of it often and consistently will result in this fruit flourishing in our lives.
• Fruit has the ability to reproduce itself. We will never run out of or consume all of this fruit, it will always propagate more fruit in our lives. But it has to be nurtured and cultivated in order for it to do this, not refused or ignored.
• Fruit is beautiful to look at! Look at all of the artwork of fruit; you don’t see many great pieces of art about vegetables, but plenty of fruit. The Fruit of the Spirit in our lives will make us beautiful and attractive to those who are around us, hopefully making them hungry for the same fruit in their own lives.
• Fruit is healthy. It nourishes the body. It’s sweet to taste and not bitter. The same is true for this Fruit of the Spirit, it nourishes the Body of Believers when consumed by its members. The more the Body fills themselves with these 9 attributes of the Fruit of the Spirit, the stronger and more effective it becomes. 

What we face in our lives can be hard and seemingly unbearable, but with the fruit that the Spirit works in us, we can experience victory in those hard and messy things in life.  

For the next nine weeks I will be studying this Fruit of the Spirit, sharing what each fruit is and how I want to cultivate this fruit by allowing the Spirit to work it in my life. 

Join me on this journey here on the Rustic and Redeemed Blog, the Facebook Group “Redeemed and Restored” https://www.facebook.com/groups/1240867702936660 And on Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/rusticandredeemed/

And be sure and share how you are cultivating and propagating the Fruit of the Spirit in your own lives.